The Hand Hotel in Llanarmon DC, Denbighshire was just one casualty. Although the hotel has soldiered on, with an open fire in the bar area and candles, providing heat and illumination, landlady Gaynor DeLuchi and husband Martin decided yesterday to cancel Valentine’s night meals and stop overs.

The decision will leave a dent in their finances. Gaynor, who has run the hotel for the past 10 and a half years with Martin, said despite the hardship the spirit of the Blitz had kicked in.

She said: “I have never seen it like this before.“The most we have had is two or three hours without power in the past, but we have been off since about 4pm on Wednesday.

“We have kept the bar open and have got an open fire, which we haven't been able to keep going through the night, but the power cuts have caused difficulties in the kitchen with no extractor fans, keeping food cool and lighting for the chefs. It was just not safe for them.

“Because we can’t keep the real ales chilled, they were starting to froth leading to a lot of wastage, so on Thursday night, people were coming in and we were serving bottled beers and cider. We actually did quite well in takings over the bar.

“There has been quite a Blitzkrieg among the community since the power cuts started.

“We have LPG stoves and I said to one of our chefs to keep an eye open, if there was anybody struggling, so we could serve up soup for them.

“Local people provided us with two power generators, one so we could get the computer and Internet operating for half an hour to get numbers, the other to provide power for two freezers and a fridge.

“But with no electricity, we had to take a decision about Valentine’s night and cancelled it because of the cut, which is quite a business loss.

“We understand the engineers are doing everything they can to restore power, but there is that feeling of being left literally in the dark and metaphorically in the dark, because when you ring the power company, it goes through to an answer machine.”

The Hand at Llanarmon DC

John Keen, who runs Glyn Ceiriog Post Office with wife Gilly, said power had finally been restored this afternoon.

“It was bad news for us, because we are under threat of closure and the last thing we wanted was to send customers to another post office or bank,” John said.

“But we kept it open throughout and were able to provide some services such as labelling up parcels.

“You could see the power line had been damaged in two places by falling trees. One just outside of Pandy and the other about half a mile away from Pandy, which were cleared by locals.

“There was one elderly man who had tried to keep warm by using an camper stove, but the smell was not good, so he then used tea lights for warmth.

“One complaint I have is that there was just an answer machine when you tried to contact Scottish Power, but when people drove out towards Oswestry to get on the internet, there was no way of checking on their website what was going on in the area.”

Two more Scottish Power customers experiencing continuing difficulties live in remote house near Penybontfawr, Powys.

Lowri Roberts, 33, of Oswestry, a translator and who runs a shop, contacted the Daily Post to voice her concern over the couple she has asked us not to name.

She said: “One of the couple is registered as a vulnerable customer with Scottish Power because he has cancer and is receiving chemotherapy.

“His immune system is low and if he catches a cold it could be disastrous. He needs to be kept warm, comfortable and stress-free.

“The company supplied them with a generator but it’s only powerful enough to get a kettle going.

“The couple are having to huddle around a wood fire and are heating saucepans of food over it to keep going.

“It’s absolutely disgusting that people like this are not given real priority by having their supply sorted out and I bet they’re not the only ones in Wales who are suffering.”

By late this afternoon Roz Johnson-Cove, 40, who runs a post office and off licence in Llandyrnog, Denbighshire had been without power for 30 hours.

The prolonged power cut was proving calamitous for the business.

Roz said: “We had to close the post office on Thursday because we couldn’t do any business and because the freezer has gone off we’ve had to throw food away.

“I reckon all-in-all it’s cost us around a £1,000 so far. We’ve been trying to keep the off licence open but as the light fades we have to close just in case a customer comes in and trips over because they can’t see where they’re going.

"Some of our neighbours have their power back and other don’t. It’s really patchy. I’ve been ringing Scottish Power all day and at one point was waiting in a queue for 40 minutes and only managed to get through to a recorded voice message saying updates would follow. It’s so frustrating - we just want to get back to work.”

Meanwhile a pub in a Flintshire village is pulling out all the stops during the three-day emergency and offering free showers and water to make hot drinks.

Northop Hall near Mold was today entering its third day of life without the power supply back to full strength.

By 6pm on Thursday energy companies had drafted generators into the village although some local residents are still facing problems.

Darren Rothwell, 49 and wife Deeanne, 36, have been running the Boar’s Head in the village for the past year and have offered stricken villagers a helping hand free of charge.

Darren who lives over the pub with landlady Deeanne, said: “Although the power was out for a lot of people in the village we still had some upstairs.

“So on Wednesday we put a message out on Facebook and on the notice board outside the pub offering showers and hot water for tea and coffee.

“It must be horrible for people not being able to get a proper wash. And especially so for people with kids. We just want to do our bit to help our friends and neighbours in the village. We’ll keep the offer going for as long as we can.”

Menai Bridge family Almeezan Acho, his wife Madihah and son Masyhad, three, suffered a powercut at their home in New Street and face a third night without electricity. They have moved to temporary accommodation in Bangor.

Dad-of-one Almeezan Acho, of New Street, Menai Bridge, wife Madihah and their three-year-old son Masyhad had to move out of their home after the power failed on Wednesday night.

Mr Acho said: “We had a log fire and hoped for the best but by 9pm on Wednesday we had to leave because there was no electricity to heat water or cook. It’s a pity for my son to have to wash in cold water. It shouldn’t happen.”

Also on Anglesey, resident Owen Hughes, his girlfriend and daughter have been without power at their Penmon home for more than 48 hours.

Mr Hughes, a chef, said: “It’s annoying but I’m not a bleeding heart and I’m not looking of sympathy.

“I’m still miffed but I’m quite philosophical. Some people are under four feet of water in this country.”

A ScottishPower spokesman said it had restored power to 123,000 homes in the UK since Wednesday. It had 1,000 staff working in they field in terrible conditions and through the nights to get people back on supply.

In Colwyn Bay, a woman told how she had a narrow escape when a tree crashed onto a road.

Miriam Randall had been with her son, 24, in their Vauxhall Corsa car driving up King’s Road in Colwyn Heights but a branch blocked their way.

As they inched forward, a massive tree then fell onto the spot where they had been seconds earlier.

Lloyds Bank worker Miriam, of Troon Way, Colwyn Heights, said: “As we moved this massive tree crashed down behind us across the road. It squashed railings - we were really lucky. If our car had been under it what would have happened to us doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Miriam Randall had a lucky escape when a tree crashed onto Kings Road, Colwyn Heights yards from her Vauxhall Corsa car in a gale this week.

In Glan Conwy, a family stuck at home by a fallen tree across their road were freed by the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team.

The parents had a young baby but suffered a power cut at their isolated farmhouse in Glan Conwy when Wednesday’s gales .

They alerted Ogwen Valley Mountain rescue team members who sawed through the trunk so the family could drive past and find somewhere else to stay in Llandudno.

Red Cross volunteers were today carrying out welfare checks by phone and in person on vulnerable and disabled householders in north and mid Wales.

They also visited some who could not be contacted because their phones need an electricity supply to work.

David Hallows, Red Cross service manager for emergency response in Wales, said: “This is a major operation covering a large area. Our job is to carry out welfare checks on those clients listed as vulnerable by Scottish Power.”

Gary Simpson from Graigfechan who lost an owl and a python during Wednesday's storm

And two owls escaped from wind-damaged aviaries at North Wales Bird Trust on Bodafon Farm Park in Llandudno.

Spokesman Bill Broughton said a tawny owl had been nursed back to health and was due to be released into the wild anyway. But an 18 inch tall African Spotted Eagle Owl named Nia flew away to nearby trees.

Bill said: “It’s used to being fed by humans and when it gets hungry we hope we can catch it by offering it food.”

There was better news for a much loved sheepdog believed lost in a swollen river after it turned up safe and well.

The collie belonging to farmer Huw Davies had disappeared while controlling sheep in Llanfairfechan on Wednesday.

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The Editor

Mark Thomas

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.